Sony Acknowledges A7 & A7r Light Leak Issue

Back in October 2013, Sony officially announced a couple of new cameras in the form of the Sony A7 and the A7r. What made these cameras so unique is that they not only use Sony’s E-mount lenses, but they’re compact, and they also came with full-frame sensors, truly making this a unique device and one for the professional who wanted something a little more portable.

However it seems that not too long after the launch of the camera that A7 and A7r users started to complain that their cameras experienced light leaks around the lens mount area. According to New Camera, one of the ways to test if your camera is experiencing light leaks is to put on the lens cap, shine a flash light around the lens mount, and snap a photo.

You’d have to crank your ISO to the max, and when you do, if your photo shows traces of light, chances are your camera is one of the affected units. Now we’re not sure how wide-spread this issue is, but thankfully Sony has come forward and acknowledged the problem and stated that they are looking into it.

According to Sony’s official statement, “Sony is aware of and acknowledges this light leak problem with the A7 and A7r and our engineering department is currently researching a solution. We will release a notice to the owners once a resolution is found.”

We’re not sure how Sony plans to fix this since this is more of a physical defect than a software issue. In the meantime if you’re an A7 or A7r user experiencing these light leaks, a photographer by the name of Ferrell McCollough has a simple but apparently effective solution for you: an elastic hair tie which you can then put around the lens mount (pictured above).

According to McCollough, he experimented with electrical tape but found that it left a sticky residue. By using the hair tie, it eliminates that problem. He also suggests that photographers go for the ties without the metal bands so that it will provide a better grip and hold. Perhaps our readers with affected A7 and A7r units can go ahead and try this and let us know how it works out for you.